2025-10-05: Branching Out
- Log: 2025-10-05
- Cast: Shinjiro Aragaki, Tamaki Uchida
- Where: Izakaya Shiraishi, Kameya Alley
- OOC Date: October 05, 2025
- IC Date: July 21, 2012
- Summary: Having been introduced by Myunghon, Tamaki sets up a meeting with Shinjiro at the Izakaya Shiraishi to ask him some questions about the Kirijo Group and Tartarus.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro has been arranged for a meeting! He's still having a pretty decent day, after talking to Yua and having a croissant. To have hope in others... to try and live selfishly...
He's sitting at the bar of Izakaya Shiraishi, chatting up Ma'am. He knows for a fact that if there's a secret conversation, she won't eavesdrop enough to be a problem. They're talking about cooking, it seems, and he's trying to get secrets on her banana ramen she just won't give, though the conversation is amicable.
He's got a canned coffee he's occasionally sipping at, too. He's given Tamaki his description of 'look for the beanie', but it's hard to miss him: red leather winter coat even in the summer, with faux wolf fur lining and fingerless gloves. He wears a beanie firmly on his head, as stated. He's gaunt, and can't be older than seventeen or eighteen, but he's also tall, standing at a firm 6'0".
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Earlier in the day, Myunghon had tasked Tamaki with investigating Tartarus and the Kirijo Group. To that end, Myunghon gave Tamaki Shinjiro's phone number, and she was quick to arrange this little meeting.
The assistant detective walks in the door while scrutinizing a notepad, only belatedly realizing her feet have taken her to her destination. She stows her notepad in her bag, waves a greeting to Ma'am and Toku alike, scans the rest of the crowd, and -- no kidding, Shinjiro's form is distinct. After getting a canned coffee for herself, Tamaki sidles up to the bar and gives him a polite bow in greeting. "Aragaki-san, I take it? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm assistant detective Tamaki Uchida."
After this, she takes a seat, though she makes a slightly dour face at overhearing the mention of banana ramen. She and the Chief might be partially responsible for that being on the menu in the first place. A joke gone too far, perhaps.
"Some yakitori, please, Ma'am. Would you like anything, Aragaki-san?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro doesn't really talk to strangers much unless he's initiating, but if Myunghon arranged it, he knows he can trust her enough to talk about stuff. These are the thoughts he's processing as the cooking conversation ends, and the detective shows up and takes a seat next to him. "No need to be so formal," he says casually.
"That's me. Nice to meet you, Uchida." He takes a sip from his coffee, "I'll do the yakitori as well," he addresses them both, nodding.
Once they're ready to talk, though, he turns. "You work down the road, right? Haven't been there, but I know you have, uh, a lucky cat statue that's got some rumors about it. Unsure if they're capital-R Rumors or not, though, still trying to figure out how that works."
He seems to have surprising curiosity about that, for his age.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Despite Shinjiro's insistence that Tamaki can drop the formality, she may still habitually maintain it. She thinks of it as maintaining a sense of professionalism, but the truth might be that she only does so to keep her own inner thoughts and initial impulses at bay. No one's yet had the misfortune of testing her patience so the facade breaks, however.
Then again, the banana ramen's a thing now. Almost no one.
Tamaki smiles and gives a nod, placing her hands together, then extends one out to her side with a palm open. She tries to mirror the cadence of a commercial in her voice as she recites what seems to be a memorized sales pitch. "That's right! At the Kuzunoha Detective Agency over in Aoba Ward. We'll cover anything, from love affairs to ghosts!"
Continuing with the shpiel, she deflects from the topic of the cat statue onto the topic of capital-R Rumors. "Oh, the cat's the result of one such rumor." Little-case R, perhaps, but she certainly doesn't elaborate. "That's just the power of Sumaru City, it seems. The Chief's got his connections, and for a price, we can spread it around so it becomes reality here. Ah, and that's how I came to know Yeo-san, as well. We trade information, from time to time."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Sales pitch! Shinjiro nods. "Are ghosts real, too?" he simply asks, curious. If so... it'd contextualize his trauma for him a bit, and his worries of dying.
But about Rumors, he still seems curious. "I see. I've considered getting into the field... Myunghon gave me some tips, but I'm still learning. I usually work out of Port Island, so it'd be nice for some of the Persona Users I know there to have access to someone who can help in Sumaru and trade information too."
But, Tamaki came for a reason. "So, you wanted to ask me some questions? I'm down, depending on what. Myunghon must have trusted you to give you my number, so..."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki's expression turns some mixture of distant, pensive, and wistful. She places the clicker-end of a ballpoint pen on her cheek and glances away as she tries to recall. "Well ... it's often been the case that a report of a ghost turns out to have actually been a Demon. I've done a fair bit of negotiation and extermination both." Her pen-hand reaches down to her neck to fiddle with the coins on the choker that adorns it. The motion causes a slight jingling sound. "As far as apparitions that persist after death, I don't think I can definitively say one way or the other, but I've experienced some things that have caused me to have some basis in a belief that such a thing is possible." Something about coins and her connection with Myunghon may stand out.
She quizzically raises an eyebrow at Shinjiro's mention of wanting other Persona Users to have connections in Sumaru, too. "Hm? We do occasionally get a few people from Port Island. They may be classmates of yours, I believe? Do you know a young girl by the name of Takeba, for instance? I'm unsure if those students are Persona-users or not, though, I haven't pried."
At the mention of the questions -- her purpose for meeting with Shinjiro -- she nods firmly and leans in, pen hovering at the ready above the notepad. Her old countenance fades into one far more serious, and she looks at Shinjiro with heavy expectation. Her voice grows more quiet, lest even proprietor Ma'am overhear. "And yes. To start, is there any truth to how a giant tower appears in Port Island during the Dark Hour? That's no mere rumor, is it?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Life after death may exist... Shinjiro nods. "Gotcha." He looks thoughtful, if a bit melancholy. His gaunt frame might paint his own vibes of death that stand out... he doesn't look very healthy.
About classmates, he waves his hand. "I don't go anymore, but we share a dorm. Takeba, yeah." He nods once. "Everyone in our dorm is more or less a Persona User," he's comfortable admitting since they have the big armband and everything.
As Tamaki begins cooking, suspiciously, the pans Ma'am is working on become too loud for her to hear anything. The question she asks... he calmly lowers his voice as well.
"It's called Tartarus. It's existed for about ten years, though I haven't been Awakened that long, only since middle school. We don't know what's at the top, given all the dangerous Shadows inside. Go during the Dark Hour sometime, you won't miss it. It overlays where Gekkoukan High School is.
Maki Sonomura has arrived from Seaside Mall.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki had omitted several other details which Myunghon had relayed to her: that it's called Tartarus, that it overlays Gekkoukan, and that something happened on that site ten years ago. That Shinjiro volunteered this without her prompting and that his account consistently lines up with Myunghon's makes it seem more likely that they're telling the truth here. Unlike in Sumaru, this is a story that seems to have not broken out of the containment of Port Island, but is still real. It strikes her as odd that she hadn't heard of it before, especially with the Agency's information network. To be fair, though, she has many other matters on her plate: rumors, college exams, paperwork, other local mundane cases ...
She takes notice of his form, too. She doesn't directly press on it, but there's a reason she either did or will insist on paying for Shinjiro's yakitori order.
"Since middle school? How long ago was that for you? I've been Awakened almost five years now."
"I see. I'm much more familiar with Demons than I am with Shadows. Is it safe to go alone? Or is there any chance I could accompany you if you undertake another expedition there?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro is the kind of guy to refuse unless one insists, so if Tamaki insists it's likely he'll give in and let her pay. At the least, it's payment for information.
"I'm in third year, so about... four years now?" A pause. "Though we never got far as kids. Back then, we only got to the first floor of Tartarus. We're much higher now that we have new strong recruits."
About Shadows, he nods. "They're functionally mindless. They won't talk back to you like a Demon does." He considers, though. "I wouldn't say it's safe to go alone. I don't think SEES would be willing to take a random detective on an operation, but we can get a crew from Sumaru together to take a look pretty trivially."
He makes a thoughtful look, glancing over Tamaki. "Some of the Shadows in there are hardcore, though, that's the main reason I recommend not going alone. People die in this line of work, and Tartarus is an easy place to do it."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
An entire group only managed to get to the first floor of this tower, at least several years ago. It sounds like it's far less forgiving than her own experience back at Karukozaka -- back then, she was able to proceed through its labyrinth as a mere duo, sometimes even entirely alone. That was largely due to the fact that one can negotiate with Demons instead of having to fight all the time, too -- same as it was during the Mikage-Cho incident, too.
She had it easier, she supposes. Like training wheels on a bicycle. Baby's first high-school converted into a dungeon.
The detective writes down a few notes to that effect: Mikage-Cho involved Demons. Tartarus involves Shadows. Myunghon mentioned some suspicions of the Kirijo Group, which was originally spun off from the Nanjo Group, and Kei Nanjo was present during the Mikage-Cho incident, too. It's too dissimilar to be an exact repeat, but there is some throughline there, even if she can't make out the exact shape of it yet.
Tamaki bites the cap of her pen with a tense look on her face, then folds her arms as one hand clasps her necklace.
Does it strike Shinjiro in any way that she seems to be wearing a rokumonsen offering? That's what people bury the deceased with at their funerals.
"I am by no means a stranger to death. My survival today is due to the abundance of caution and proper respect with which I pay danger. We only get one chance at life, and I'd like to make the most of mine."
Her expression softens again as she asks, "... what's this crew in Sumaru, then? I would like to take a look, if only to try and understand how this may connect to the Kirijo Group." And ... possibly beyond just the Kirijo Group, but she doesn't let onto that part out loud.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
The rokumonsen offering finally gets a glance from Shinjiro, and there's a melancholic smile as she speaks. Someone with her offering ready for the ferryman. "Make the most of it, huh..." He seems to be ruminating on that, as if it's something he only recently realized is even possible.
But, Tamaki has questions still! "It's the Cardboard Dragon. Myunghon's crew. I'm sure they'd be willing for a group of us to hit Tartarus. There's also some independent Persona Users, as well, but most of us are attached to the shop."
The Kirijo Group, though... "If you're interested in them, I'll tell you there's shady stuff going on in the background. Some form of labs and experiments, though I don't know all the details or if it's actually evil or something. There's such a thing as good research." Shinjiro's not going to talk about his pills. That's his secret to bear. "...but the heiress, Mitsuru Kirijo, is a good person and old friend of mine. For her sake, I want to make sure the corporation isn't burdening her with darkness."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
One reason that Tamaki's tight-lipped about her experiences at Karukozaka High, it's because she wouldn't like anyone to put the knowledge of it to use for their own ends. The only other two people who she knows of that know the truth are gone from this world. If she can help it, Nanjo, Kirijo, SEBEC, and other groups with possibly ill intentions aren't getting any extra assistance from Tamaki: it sounds like they're progressing well enough on their own.
One reason among many.
She nods firmly, resolutely. "Yes, make the most of it. It can be squandered: either in idleness or foolhardiness."
"Their crew, though ... Yeo-san pointed me in your direction. Makes sense if you've got one foot in either group, you'd know the best direction to point me to. I would like to see this tower firsthand, and I believe I can request that of Yeo-san."
Tamaki nods again at the mention of Mitsuru. "I'm familiar with an old classmate in a similar position. I can't imagine someone would be calling the shots at their age, but that it's something they're burdened with."
Tamaki makes another note on her notepad: re-establish contact with her old St. Hermelin classmates, as well.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Idleness or foolhardiness... Shinjiro frowns thoughtfully once more. He's already been starting to progress among those lines, and hearing it from even a stranger is helpful. "I'll keep that in mind."
The crew, though... "You could also talk to some SEES members, too. They all go to Gekkoukan, and if there's anyone you ever specifically want to talk to, I may be able to put you in touch, depending. I'd be careful who you ask what, though... loose lips can sink ships."
About the old classmate, he smiles sympathetically, checking on the status of the food visually after a second, before looking back. "Yeah. Aren't we all burdened by something, anyways? I just can't imagine her being heartless. Not with everything she's done and is trying to do for me."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
"Make sure that you do." Keep it in mind, that is. There's a dead-serious weight backing her words. "I'm not really fan of works written by samurai of old, but I've got my own interpretation of that old tome, Hagakure. One that differs from where the political zeitgeist would seem to take it." She sighs, disappointed by this fact.
"I'll keep that in mind about SEES, too. No one really comes to mind just yet, so accompanying the Cardboard Dragon sounds like a safer bet for the time being."
Tamaki's stomach growls, she is absolutely ready for some food. Her head turns to follow Shinjiro's gaze and she looks on with eager anticipation. Soon ..!
"We are all burdened with something, yes, but those challenges can shape us if we overcome them. Exercise breaks muscle fibers apart, then they grow back stronger. An attack from one position often necessitates that there's an opening from another; if I thrust at someone in a fencing bout, I grow closer and more exposed to danger, myself. A curse with a loophole is really just a tutorial, if you think about it. I'm sure her burdens will shape her in some manner, as will yours, as mine have done for me."
"Hold onto that thought, okay? Even the worst of villains I've dealt with so far had a speck of goodness in them."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro nods once more, to that weight. The Hagakure... "I'll have to ask about it sometime, if we start working together on this."
But for now, he nods again about the Cardboard Dragon, and then listens to both her stomach and the discussion of burdens and shaping. "...yeah. That makes sense to me." The worst villains, though... "I agree. I'm friends with some people society would label 'villainous', and sometimes we even have to battle. It doesn't diminish from their heart, though. It's more grey than many believe."
But then, Ma'am is done! She serves the trays of yakitori, and Shinjiro takes his. "Thanks for the meal," he says to Ma'am, before nodding to Tamaki once and digging in.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki sniffs at the mention of Hagakure again. "My take on it is much different than the ... nascent nationalist one, revival of the 'warrior spirit' or whatever. Ugh. Gesaku's more to my taste, since works in that genre often satirized the ruling class. I can still appreciate having a keen awareness of and respect for death, though."
She nods. "And likewise with would-be 'heroes.' Even after what I went through five years ago, I've still had to do a lot of maturing. I learned only one lesson when there's still an entire curriculum for me to go through."
"Ah! Thank you for the meal, Ma'am! Well, we can conclude matters here and enjoy our food. And it's my treat, don't worry!" And so, Tamaki is distracted for the rest of their encounter because a girl's gotta eat.